[Lnc-business] How the principled have fallen

Tue Aug 16 23:41:46 EDT 2016

Starchild – a marvelous positive message! I would add the following two thoughts for James Funk to consider:

1.       Would New Mexico have been better off without Gary Johnson as a two-term governor. Obviously not. Gary vetoed more spending bills that all the other 49 governors combined and got New Mexico’s shaky economy back on a sound footing while the jobless rate was going down.

2.       I got to know Gary personally at the Orlando convention. While I don’t agree with Gary’s watering down of some Libertarian core principles, I trust him to tell the truth, a rare trait among politicians. My impression is that Gary has no interest for getting authority over others just to get the perks that go with authority. Gary is a really laid back guy who loves the outdoors. His mountain climbing and endurance sports achievements are a testament to his character and determination. I believe Gary’s primary motivation for getting elected as President is to get things fixed. Gary is the right man for this election cycle.

Personal Responsibility and Social Acceptance

Celebrate Life, Set the Bar High and LIVE FREE

~David Pratt Demarest

Secretary, Nebraska Libertarian State Central Committee

Region 6 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (IA, IL, MN, MO, ND, NE, WI)

Nebraska State Coordinator, LP Radical Caucus

Secretary at LPNE.org <mailto:Secretary at LPNE.org> 

David.Demarest at LP.org <mailto:David.Demarest at LP.org>  

DPDemarest at centurylink.net <mailto:DPDemarest at centurylink.net>  

David.Demarest at firstdata.com <mailto:David.Demarest at firstdata.com> 

http://www.LPNE.org <http://www.lpne.org/> 

http://www.LP.org <http://www.lp.org/>   

Cell:      402-981-6469

Home: 402-493-0873

Office: 402-222-7207

From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Caryn Ann Harlos
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2016 1:33 PM
To: lnc-business at hq.lp.org
Cc: James Funk <jamesfunk at startmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] How the principled have fallen

You responded beautifully Starchild with a positive encouraging message.

-- 

In Liberty,

Caryn Ann Harlos

Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann. Harlos at LP.org <mailto:Harlos at LP.org> 

Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado <http://www.lpcolorado.org/> 

Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/> 

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016, Starchild <sfdreamer at earthlink.net <mailto:sfdreamer at earthlink.net> > wrote:

Hi Jim,

Thanks for writing – I get it. It's unfortunately true that William Weld and to a lesser extent Gary Johnson have been saying some un-libertarian things while serving as our presidential ticket, and many Libertarians are understandably not happy about it (myself among them). 

How did it happen that the Libertarian Party chose these standard-bearers? Quite simply it came down to who showed up and voted. We needed more strongly libertarian folks like yourself at our convention in Orlando – Weld squeaked in as the VP nominee by the skin of his teeth. With that in mind, I hope you will rejoin the party and take part in the process so that you can help ensure a more solidly libertarian outcome in 2020. 

Meanwhile, short of rescinding our nomination(s) which would probably do more harm than good at this point even if it were politically possible, all we can really do is commend them when they get it right – which they do on some issues – and pressure them to improve when they don't. It's not like there's anyone better out there who's on enough state ballots to be elected president. Certainly not Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, who make Gary Johnson and Bill Weld look like Murray Rothbard and Friedrich Hayek by comparison! If we know anything, it's that either Clinton or Trump being elected would be a disaster. A vote for Johnson is a vote to #DumpTheCLUMP!

As a member of the Johnson/Weld campaign's Libertarian advisory board, I'll do what I can to urge them to present a more libertarian message. You can help by sending me specific examples of stuff in print or on the air (links and details on where to find the material in the link if it's not immediately discoverable) where Johnson or Weld, or materials being put out in their name, are going against our party Platform and the libertarian idea of non-aggression for which it stands, so we can look at them and try to come up with suggested alternative messaging to recommend to the campaign. 

Your suggestions are always welcome too of course, on this or any other topic. Thank you again for taking the time to voice your justified concerns, and for all your other efforts as a freedom activist. Hope to see you at our next convention.

Love & Liberty,

                                   ((( starchild )))

At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee

                                 (415) 625-FREE

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, and this without any qualification as to their condition or degree, as is the case in the British government. This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty... The right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Whenever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.”

– St. George Tucker, Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1803)

On Aug 15, 2016, at 10:46 AM, James Funk wrote:

To whom,

A former party member, I can't believe how far off message the LP now is. How can Weld possibly be your VP candidate? Besides being either totally uninformed or ignorant, it's not really even a conservative Republican position he's espousing in the article below (which is amusing): http://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/08/12/bill-weld-just-compared-ar-15s-weapons-mass-destruction-said-pistols-even-worse/

I would think his comments would automatically exclude him from any consideration by the Party. No liberty at all in them. How could he have been chosen? Must be the Freedom is Slavery approach to relevancy, I guess. Amazing you picked Johnson again, as well. What a waste of time, and departure from principle, again.

You've really lost your way. The world doesn't need a Republican Party junior varsity or farm team, guys.

Jim Funk

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